Jim Rice's Hall of Fame election raises questions

Once again, voters in the Baseball Hall of Fame's annual election raise questions.

Hey, I'm one of those voters, and sorry to say, I can't provide the answers that some baffled fans want to hear.

It took Jim Rice 15 years to get elected. That in itself makes you wonder ... if a player is a Hall of Famer, why does he have to wait so long? Really, if you think about it, all Hall of Famers should be elected on the first ballot. Heck, their careers don't get any better as 10 or 15 years roll by. They are what they are, right from the first year they're eligible.

The elections are conducted by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Trust me, this is a group of dedicated people who love the game and cherish the opportunity to vote in Hall of Fame elections. It's just that they have few hard-and-fast measurements for Hall of Famers. On top of that, the constituency constantly changes. Some baseball beat writers last a long time (ahem), others come and go in a hurry. The nature of the business, you know.

With a changing roll call and limited guidelines, voters are left to their own gut feelings. Given that, it's possible that voters will say yes to a player one year, no to him a couple of years later.

This happens because of the constantly changing ballots. Really, how people vote depends in large part on the strength of that year's lineup.

Consider Monday's election. Rickey Henderson polled 94.8 per cent of the vote - an astounding total. How come? Well, first we can say that he certainly was a worthy candidate, but there can be no doubt that he breezed to such a landslide victory simply because he stood alone as the "marquee" name on the ballot.

This "strength of lineup" situation explains why some players have to wait, or miss out altogether. Unless a player belongs in the elite category - you know, like a Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle - voters look at him and say, yeah, maybe, but he can wait.

That's why Rice waited 15 years. That's why Tommy John - he of 288 victories and a 24-year career - also waited 15 years and still hasn't made it. His only hope now will be that he can come before the Veterans Committee, along with Luis Tiant, another pitcher whose Hall of Fame credentials never quite caught the voters' eyes.

Let's face it. Hall of Famers come in two tiers. The top tier is reserved for the no-doubt-about-it types, from Christy Mathewson to Rickey Henderson. The other tier is for the borderliners, like Jimmy Rice.

Of course, there are those who fall outside the borderline, but certainly make you wonder. What about Andre Dawson, for instance? Wasn't he every bit as devastating as Rice, Tony Perez, Orlando Cepeda and others like them? In fact, Dawson was a complete player - a big run producer who could steal bases and play defense with the best.

He's still eligible, but will he ever make it?

So it goes at Hall of Fame time. Lots of questions. Too bad we don't have all the answers.